Luxury of Time

Luxury of Time
Mara

We step through the front door and almost immediately, I can tell something is off. I’m not sure what feeds my intuition now, but I feel the hair on the back of my neck stand. 
The place is quiet.

I know Kaelith should be in here, but why is it so quiet?

Rhydan presses a hand to my lower back, and I shiver. My wet hair stick to my shirt, not helping the curious pit in my stomach. 

The easy warmth that had surrounded us at the lake seems so far away. His gentle words and obvious passion are long gone. 

When we step into the common room, my eyes find Kaelith.

Like magnets, I’m drawn to him. Like he’s oxygen, my body seeks him. Everything in me vibrates, the tips of my fingers feeling as if they are on fire. 

He’s standing beside the large table, behind the daybed, one hand braced against the wood. A map is spread beneath his fingers, Nerion leaning against the nearby wall. Thane is off to the side, arms folded across his chest. 

Both of them keep their eyes on me, but I don’t look at them. 

All I can see is Kaelith.

He stares me down, red eyes bright and full of so many truths that I wish he would just say out loud. 

He’s not smiling. He’s tense, chest rising and falling as he breathes to take in my scent. 

The knot in my stomach tightens. “Is everything okay?”

It’s almost as if Kaelith’s eyes flash an even brighter red. 

Rhydan tenses beside me, dropping his hand from my lower back and stepping toward Kaelith. “What is it?”

Kaelith says nothing, his eyes just drag across my face, down my body. My breath catches in my throat, and for a moment, the rest of the world disappears. 

“We have a problem.”

It’s Nerion’s deep voice that speaks the words, and I’m blinking out of my stupor, looking over at him. His violet eyes aren’t on me, they’re staring at Kaelith with a raised eyebrow. 

Rhydan tilts his head. “What kind of problem?”

Kaelith looks at him before returning his attention to me. “Your magic.”

My stomach drops, the magic tingling through my body. It feels odd now, stronger. The sensation has settled beneath my skin like a swarm of bees, not painful, but impossible to ignore. Earlier, it had felt like heat, now it feels aware. 

I felt it get stronger when I was with Rhydan, as though something inside me has finally woken up and it will refuse to go back to sleep.

“What about it?” I whisper.

Thane steps closer to me, drawing my attention. His gold eyes are assessing, completely overwhelming. “You can feel it.”

I nod, eyes sweeping over him, then Nerion, before finally landing back on Kaelith. “It’s stronger now.”

Kaelith drops his weight onto his hands as he leans over the table, head falling between his shoulders. He lets out a long sigh. “You’ve healed half the realm before you’ve even finished bonding with us all.”

I blink.

Rhydan goes still. “That fast?”

Nerion nods, pushing off the wall. “We’ve had reports.”

I stare at all of them, not really sure I understand the meaning of their words. Isn’t this a good thing? Isn’t this why they were looking for me? 

It sounds like exactly what I’m supposed to be doing.

I chew on my bottom lip, twisting my fingers together. “Is that… a bad thing?”

The silence that follows does absolutely nothing to reassure me.

Kaelith steps away from the table, walking around it to stand right in front of me. “It is. But it’s happening too fast for the wards.”

I frown, remembering my conversation with Rhydan. “The wards surrounding us?”

He nods. “They were put in place to hide you. To hide the Oracle.”

I glance toward the window. “Okay?”

Kaelith steps closer, and I swallow the lump in my throat, wondering if he can tell how nervous I am. I don’t know how many more wrenches in the plan I can take. 

“They were designed to contain the amount of power an Oracle typically produces during bonding.”

The knot in my stomach tightens further. “Typically?”

His jaw flexes.

He doesn’t say anything, and I raise my eyes over his shoulder, toward Nerion. I needed answers, needed someone else to step in if he couldn’t.

“Your magic isn’t typical,” he says. 

The answer makes me flinch, feeling as if I’ve been a disappointment. 

“You are much stronger than we expected,” Thane says. 

I look between all of them, but no one looks happy. No one looks reassured. Is stronger magic not a good thing?

“Why?” I whisper.

Kaelith shrugs, seeming to finally get out whatever was keeping him quiet. “Maybe it has to do with the fact that we found you late. The power should have been growing with you your entire life.”

“Oh. So, what does that mean? Will the wards not hide me anymore?”

My pulse starts to climb as Kaelith closes his eyes. “The stronger you become, the weaker the wards are.”

My stomach drops, the magic buzzing beneath my skin. The memory of dark figures swallowing the sky hits me. Hundreds of them.

I remember the way the streetlights died one by one beneath their shadows. The way my entire body stopped working.

I don’t want to face them again, don’t want to find myself facing another scout like we did out in the rest. 

I want to stay here with him. With all of them. Hidden in the safety of the wards. 

Kaelith’s hands cup my face. “We won’t let anyone hurt you.”

“The strength of your magic will make it easier for them to find us,” Thane adds. “But we won’t let them touch you.”

Tears start to prick the back of my eyes. “What do we do?”

Nerion steps into my line of vision, Rhydan beside him. “We no longer have the luxury of time.”

I frown at that. 

Rhydan nods. “You need to complete the bonding.”

My heart sinks. “Now?”

Kaelith’s jaw ticks. “If you’ll let us.”